Apparatus for manufacturing articles such as brushes and simulated tree branches

ABSTRACT

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SIMULATED TREE BRANCHES, BRUCHES AND THE LIKE UTILIZING PICKER WHEELS, MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY FEEDING WIRES ABOUT SAID WHEELS WITH THE WIRES EMERGING FROM BETWEEN AND TANGENTIALLY OF SAID WHEELS AND BRISTLE FEEDING MEANS FOR FEEDING BRISTLES TO SAID PICKER WHEELS WHEREIN THE FEEDING MEANS INCLUDES A HOPPER AND MEANS FOR INTERCHANGING HOPPERS WITHOUT INTERRUPTING OPERATION OF THE APPARATUS. WHEN HOPPERS ARE   USED IN CONNECTION WITH EACH PICKER WHEEL, MEANS ARE EMPLOYED FOR SELECTIVELY CONTROLLING THE BRISTLES FED FROM EACH OF THE HOPPERS TO PROVIDE VARIATIONS IN COLOR, CONTOUR AND THE LIKE.

Sept. 20 RUTKOWSKI .1971 EI'AL- I 3606,47! APPARATUS FOR IANUFACTURING ARTICLES SUCH As BRUS'HES AND SIIULATED TREE BRANCHES- 27, 1970 A 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jun @FELYQ MN Y Sept. 20

,1971 E. J. RUTKOWSKI ET L 3,505,472

APPARATUS FOR IANUFACTURING ARTICLES SUCH AS BRUSHES AND smunnsn TREE BRANCHES 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed Jan. 27, 1970 Sept. 20, 1971 uT ow5 ETAL 3,605,472

7 APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ARTICLES suca AS BRUSHES AND SIMULATED TREE BRANCHES Filed Jan. 27. 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 'INVENTORS [fin/mew?- J'amvsan/ fpwaeadiar owsxl ATTOR Sept. 20, 1911 E...J.- RUTKGWSKI a'rAL 3,606,472 APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ARTICLES SUCH AS BRUSHES AND smuumn TREE BRANCHES v Filed Jan. 27. 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet &

T1 ll]- United States Patent Oflice 3,606,472 Patented Sept. 20, 1971 3,606,472 APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ARTICLES SUCH AS BRUSHES AND SIMULATED TREE BRANCHES Edward J. Rutkowski, Old Forge, and Edward R. Johnson, Levittown, Pa., assignors to Poloron Products, Inc., New Rochelle, N.Y.

Filed Jan. 27, 1970, Ser. No. 6,134 Int. Cl. A46d 9/00 US. Cl. 300-2 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for manufacturing simulated tree branches, brushes and the like utilizing picker wheels, means for continuously feeding wires about said wheels with the wires emerging from between and tangentially of said wheels and bristle feeding means for feeding bristles to said picker wheels wherein the feeding means includes a hopper and means for interchanging hoppers without interrupting operation of the apparatus. When hoppers are used in connection with each picker wheel, means are employed for selectively controlling the bristles fed from each of the hoppers to provide variations in color, contour and the like.

This invention relates to apparatus for the manufacture of brushes and simulated evergreen tree branches such as spruce trees and the like by the engagement of groups of bristles between a pair of twisted wires, and more specifically, to improved apparatus wherein the bristle feeding means are arranged to feed bristles selectively from one or more bristle feeding means including bristle holding hoppers or cartridges which can be replaced during operation of the apparatus without interruption thereof.

Prior known devices for the manufacture of brushes and simulated tree branches utilized a single bristle feeder with means for insertion of individual small bundles of bristles generally fed by gravity to a picker wheel. The pioker wheel carried the bristles to a position where they were retained between a pair of parallel wires which were subsequently twisted to secure the bristles in position between the twisted wires.

This invention embodies a new and improved device for the formation of brushes and simulated tree branches and has provision for the simultaneous utilization of two bristle feeding means with feeding means having a socalled cartridge which can be preloaded with bristles and which cartridges can be readily and quickly interchanged to avoid interruption of the operation of the apparatus. Furthermore, bristles may be selectively fed from said feeding means to produce various decorative effects in the finished product. The invention further includes means for twisting the wires having the bristles disposed therebetween and for periodically severing a twisted section so that the twisting means may move forward to grasp and cut ends of the wires and to again initiate the next successive twisting operation.

Another object of the invention involves the provision of novel and improved bristle feeding means having interchangeable cartridges and embodying improved means for uniformly urging the bristles into engagement with the picker wheels.

Still another object of the invention resides in novel and improved bristle feeding means for the manufacture of brushes and simulated tree branches utilizing compressed air as means for effecting substantially uniform pressure on the bristles to urge them into engagement with the picker wheels. With this arrangement a more uniform bristle distribution in the final product is obtained.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings forming part of this application.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view in partial section of one embodiment of the apparatus in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of a fragmentary section of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and taken along the line 2-2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along the line 33 thereof;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along the line 44 thereof;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along the line 55 thereof;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along the line 66 thereof;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the bristle feeder and cooperating cartridge; and

FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 illustrate the operation of the bristle feeding means and the replacement of the cartridge.

Referring to the drawings and more specifically to FIGS. 1 through 7, the illustrated embodiment of the invention includes a substantially vertically disposed plate 10 carried by a suitable support not shown which support may be anchored to the floor or other supporting surface. A pair of picker wheels 11 and 12 are secured to shafts 13 and 14, respectively, which extend through the plate 10 and are rotatably carried by bearings 15 and 16. The two picker wheels are preferably aligned in a common vertical plane and each wheel is provided with a plurality of bristle receiving notches 17 and has a peripheral wire receiving groove 18. To the right of the picker wheels are a pair of wire guides 19 and 20 carried by an essentially U-shaped bracket 21 with the base portion 21' being secured by bolts 22 to the plate 10 as viewed more clearly in FIG. 5. The horizontally disposed portions of the bracket 21 have inwardly formed flanges 23 and 24 to which the guides 19 and 20 are secured by bolts 25. The guides 19 and 20 are spaced to accommodate bristles 26 and are provided with wire accommodating grooves 19' and 20' to accommodate the wires 27 and 28. The left edges of guides .19 and 20 shown in FIG. 1 are concave surfaces 19a and 20a having a curvature corresponding to that of the associated picker wheels 11 and 12. The righthand edges 19b and 20b are tapered to facilitate engagement of the wire ends by twisting means to be described. The wire 27 is fed from a spool 29 carried by a frame portion 30' and extends downwardly about a pulley 31 rotatably carried by the plate 10. The wire then engages the groove 18 in the picker wheel 11 and emerges tangentially from the lower portion of the picker wheel and extends through the groove '19 in the guide 19. The Wire 28 is fed from a spool similar to the spool 29 and moves upwardly about a pulley 32 thence about the picker wheel 12 and emerges in spaced parallel relationship to the first wire 11 and is engaged by the groove 20' in the guide 20.

Bristles 26 are fed to the picker wheels 11 and 12 by bristle feeding means generally denoted by the numerals 33 and 34. As bristles are fed to the picker wheels, they are engaged by bristle receiving notches 17 and are retained in the notches by a pair of guides 35 and 36. Each guide has a forward edge 37 having a curvature corresponding to its associated picker wheel 11 and 12 as the case may be. To effect proper adjustment of the guides, each guide is provided with an elongated slot 38 and a screw 39 which extends through the slot and threadably engages a spacer block 40, the latter being carried by the plate 10. In this way bristles engaging the notches 17 will be retained within the notches until they reach the point at which the wires 27 and 28 depart from the picker wheels 11 and 12 whereupon the wires engage and retain the bristles in substantially parallel relationship as the wires pass through the guides 19 and 20.

The wires 27 and 28 with the bristles 26 disposed therebetween may be twisted by any suitable means as for instance a twisting apparatus generally denoted by the numeral 41. The apparatus 41 is supported for linear movement toward and away from the guides 19 and and in the instant embodiment of the invention this is accomplished by means of a suitable track 42. The device 41 is carried by wheels 43 engaging the track 42 and a rod 44 or other suitable means may be employed to displace longitudinally the twisting apparatus during the twisting operation.

More specifically, the twisting apparatus includes a chuck generally denoted by the numeral 45. The chuck includes a spindle 46 rotatably carried by bearings 47 and 48 and having a sprocket 49 disposed therebetween. The spindle 46 has a slidable collar 50, the latter having a groove 51 for slidably engaging pins 52. Suitable means not shown are provided for displacement for the pins 52 to move the collar 50 relative to the spindle 46. The left hand end of the spindle as shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a pair of brackets 53 which are secured to the spindle and pivotally carry wire gripping jaws 54. The forward edge 55 of the collar 50 is inclined and each jaw carries a stud 56 bearing against the inclined surface 55. A spring 57 is disposed between the jaws 54 and tends to urge them into the open position. With the structure as described above as the collar 50 is moved to the right, the jaws will open and when the collar is moved to the left the jaws will close and grip the wires. A motor 58 having a sprocket 59 thereon is coupled to the sprocket 49 by a chain represented by the dotted line 60 for rotation of the chuck 45. The rate of rotation of the chuck 45 is coordinated with the longitudinal movement of the twisting apparatus 41 in order to produce the desired twist in the wires 27 and 28 to hold the bristles securely therebetween.

After an article of the desired length has been produced, a cutting mechanism generally denoted by the numeral 61 severs the wires at a point spaced from the righthand edges of the guides 19 and 20 as shown in FIG. 1 whereupon the chuck 45 is released to discharge the finished article and the twisting mechanism is then moved to engage the protruding ends of the wires and repeat the operation.

The cutting mechanism is shown more clearly in FIG. 2 and is generally supported by portions of the basic frame member which portions are denoted herein by the numerals 62 and 63. More specifically, the cutting mechanism includes a plate 64 slidably carried by guides 65 and 66 mounted on a plate 67. The plate 67 is supported by the frame member 63 and the slidable plate is actuated by a cylinder 68 secured to the plate 67 and having its piston rod 68 pivotally secured at 69 to the movable plate 64. The lower portion of the plate 64 carries a pair of cutting jaws 69 which are pivotally secured thereto by pins 70 and a cross-link 71. The jaws 69 are operated by a cylinder 72 secured to the frame member 62. The piston rod 73 of the cylinder 72 carries a collar 74 slidably engaging a vertical rod 75. The lower end of the rod 75 carries a bracket 76 pivoted at 77 to one of the jaws 69. With this arrangement, when an article of the desired length has been twisted, the cylinder 68 is operated to move the jaws downwardly whereupon the cylinder 72 is actuated to close the jaws and thereby sever the wires 27 and 28.

Further in connection with FIG. 2, it will be observed that the picker wheel shafts 13 and 14 are coupled by spur gears 78 and 79 so that the wheels are driven in synchronism. The shaft 14 further carries a sprocket for driving the picker wheels and the speed of rotation of the picker wheels is suitably coordinated with the movement of the twisting mechanism to prevent stretching of the wires but at the same time maintaining a predetermined tension thereon.

The bristle feeding means 33 and 34 for feeding the bristles to the picker wheels 11 and 12 are identical and, accordingly only the feeding means 33 will be described. The bristle feeding means in accordance with the invention consists of two portions, namely, the replaceable cartridge 81, and the bristle feeder 82. The bristle feeder is of tubular construction and has a relatively large inlet 83 and a narrow outlet 84. The surface 85 of the outlet 84 is curved to conform with the curvature of the associated picker wheel and the upper and lower edges thereof have notches 86 and "86' to accommodate means for interrupting the supply of bristles to the picker wheel. The bristle feeder is secured to a plate 87 by screws 88 and the plate 87 is secured to the plate 10 by suitable spacers 89. The feeder 82 is positioned centrally of its associated picker wheel 11 with the periphery of the picker wheel in closely spaced relationship to the forward edge 85 of the bristle feeder.

The cartridge 81 is an elongated tubular structure having a cross-sectional configuration corresponding to the configuration of the inlet 83 of the bristle feeder 82 and is supported by a shelf 90 extending outwardly from the plate 10. The righthand end of the cartridge 81 as shown for instance in FIG. 7 is provided with outwardly extending guides 91 preferably formed integrally with the side walls 92 and the lefthand edges of the side Walls 93 of the bristle feeder are recessed as indicated at 94 in FIG. 6 to receive the guides 91 and thereby effect precise alignment of the cartridge 81 with the feeder 82. The lefthand end of the cartridge 81 is closed by a wall 94, the latter having a threaded opening therein to receive an air inlet connector 95 adapted to receive a quick release connector 96 attached to an air hose 97.

Movement of the bristles within the cartridge is effected by a piston block 98 slidably disposed within the cartridge and having a peripheral gasket 99' to provide an air seal between the block and the walls of the cartridge. The block 98 is also provided with a pair of vertically disposed grooves 100 and a pair of horizontal grooves 101 in the side walls thereof. In addition, the righthand edge of the cartridge as viewed in FIGS. 6 and 7 is provided with a pair of pins 102 which engage the recesses 101 on the block and limit the forward travel thereof.

In operation the cartridge 81 is secured to the bristle feeder 82 by upper and lower clips 103 each being secured at 104 to the bristle feeder and having openings 105 which engage cooperating pins 106 extending from the upper and lower surfaces of the cartridge. Compressed air is fed to the cartridge forcing the block 9 8 to the right as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 thereby uniformly urging the bristles into the notches in the associated picker wheel. When the block 98 arrives at the righthand end of the cartridge 81, the pins 102 prevent further travel of the block. At this point the forward portion of the block 98 extends into the bristle feeder 82 with the forward edge of the block extending beyond the holes 107 in the top and bottom faces of the bristle feeder '82. The holes 107 and the slots or grooves in the block 98 are in alignment the block enters the bristle feeder 82. At this point elongated pins 108 are inserted through the top openings 107 as shown in FIG. 9 and extend downwardly through the slots 100 in the block 98 and engage bottom openings 107 in the bristle feeder. These pins 108 permit the cartridge 81 together with the block 98 to be removed by releasing the spring catches 103 whereupon the pins 108 will hold the bristles within the bristle feeder 8'2 and permit the attachment of a full cartridge to the bristle feeder. In attaching a full cartridge 81 to the bristle feeder, a thin plate or other suitable means may be held over the front of the cartridge until the guides 91 partially engage the recessed portions of the bristle feeder whereupon the plate can be removed and the cartridge locked in place by the spring clips 103. This operation can be performed rapidly with little if any interreuption of the operation of the apparatus.

The feeding of bristles 26 from each of the bristle feeders 82 to the picker wheels 11 and 12 may be selectively controlled by lever arm assemblies 109 and 110. Inasmuch as both lever arm assembles are substantially identical, only the lever arm assembly 109 will be described in detail. The assembly 109 comprises a pair of arms 111 and 1112 pivoted to the plate by a pivot 113 so that the arms 111 and 112' bridge the associated picker wheel 11 as may be viewed more clearly in FIG. 3. An vL-shaped bracket 114 is secured to the top of the rams 111 and 1172 with the depending leg 114' of the bracket 114 extending downwardly behind the plate 10. A fluid operated cylinder 115 is secured to the plate 1.0 and the associated piston rod 116 connected to a piston within the cylinder is coupled through a link to the point 117 on the leg 114' of the L-shaped bracket 114. The lower ends of the arms 111 and 112 each have a curved portion 118 with the curvature approximating the curvature of the picker wheel 11 so that when the cylinder 115 is operated to move the lower end of arms 111 and 112 toward the bristle feeder 8 2, the curved portions 118 will enter the slots 86 and 86 on the forward edge of the bristle feeder and thereby prevent bristles from entering the picker wheel. For purposes of illustration, the lever arm assembly 109 is shown in the retracted position in FIG. 1 to permit bristles to be fed to the picker wheel 11 while the lever assembly 110 is shown in position to interrupt transfer of bristles to the picker wheel 12.

From the foregoing description, it is evident that the invention not only provides improved means for maintaining a substantially constant supply of bristles through the utilization of readily interchangeable magazines but also provides means for uniformly feeding the bristles through the utilization of compressed air so that constant pressure is maintained at all times which ultimately results in a more uniform product. Furthermore, the utilization of two picker wheels with associated feeding means permits a wide variety of ornamental configurations to be produced by varying both color and length of the bristles being fed to the picker wheels.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is apparent that modifications, alterations and changes may be made without departing from the spirt and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for the manufacture of articles such as brushes, simulated tree branches and the like comprising a pair of driven substantially coplanar closely spaced picker wheels each having a plurality of transverse grooves and a centrally disposed peripheral groove, wire guiding means feeding a pair of wires about portions of said peripheral grooves, said wires extending substantially tangentially from and in spaced parallel relationship from between said wheels, bristle feeding means adjoining said portion of each wheel whereby each transverse groove received a plurality of bristles, means retaining said bristles in said transverse grooves until the bristles pass between said wheels whereup the wires remove said bristles and retain them therebetween, mans for twisting said wires to secure said bristles in place therebetween and means associated with each picker wheel and operable to block the movement of bristles into the transverse grooves of the associated wheel whereby bristles may be fed selectively from each of said feeding means to vary the characteristics of the completed article.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 including a rotatable chuck for gripping said wires, a carriage for carrying and rotating said chuck, said carriage being movable linearly away from said wheels during rotation of said chuck and means for severing said wires at a point adjoining said wheels when said carriage has traveled a predetermined distance.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of said bristle feeding means includes a removable bristle cartridge feeding bristles to said feeding means and means permitting removal of an empty cartridge and replacement with a full cartridge without interrupting the operation of said apparatus.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein each of said bristle feeding means includes bristle engaging levers operable to engage and disengage the bristles in said feeding means to control the transfer of bristles from the feeding means to the associated picker wheel.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of said bristle feeding means includes a tubular bristle-containing portion, and means including a compressed air supply for uniformly feeding said bristles to the associated picker wheel.

6. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein each of said cartridges is of elongated tubular configuration having a closed end portion, means within said cartridge to apply pressure to said piston means and uniformly urge said bristles into engagement with said picker wheel.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said bristle feeding means includes a bristle feeder, said cartridge is releasably secured to said bristle feeder, said piston means has a leading portion thereof moveable into said bristle feeder and removable means for engaging and holding bristles within said bristle feeder upon removal of said cartridge and piston means for replacement by a fully loaded cartridge.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the leading portion of said piston means includes at least one elongated slot, said bristle'feeder has openings in alignment with said slot, and said bristle engaging and holding means comprises a pin engaging said openings and said slot.

9. In apparatus for the manufacture of articles such as brushes, simulated tree branches and the like, bristle feeding means for feeding bristles to a picker wheel, said feeding means including a bristle feeder for transferring bristles to said picker wheel and a readily replaceable bristle containing cartridge for attachment to said bristle feeder whereby an empty cartridge may be quickly replaced by a full cartridge without interruption of operation.

10. In apparatus for the manufacture of articles according to claim 9 wherein said cartridge is of elongated tubular configuration having a closed end portion, piston means within said cartridge and means for feeding compressed air into said cartridge to apply pressure to said piston means and uniformly urge said bristles into engagement with said picker wheel.

11. In apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the leading portion of said piston means includes at least one elongated slot, said bristle feeder has openings in alignment with said slot, and said bristle engaging and holding means comprises a pin engaging said openings and said slot.

12. In apparatus according to claim 9 including means associated with said feeding means to control the transfer of bristles to said picker wheel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,140,122 7/1964 Spiegel 300-2 3,215,472 11/1965 Zahoransky 300-7 3,223,454 12/1965 Dieffenbach 3002 GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, In, Primary Examiner 

